Now China accuses U.S. of hacking its defence websites

Friday, March 01, 2013 - 01:30

March 1 - China says the U.S. routinely hacks its defense ministry websites, as an online Chinese anti-corruption campaign by China's next generation of Communist Party leaders is outshone by the country's online activists. Sarah Sheffer reports.

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A war of words between Beijing and Washington ignited last month after a U.S. computer security company said a Chinese military unit was behind a series of hacking attacks.
The firm, Mandiant, identified this Shanghai military hub as the most likely source of the hacks.
Now China says its own military websites were subjected to hundreds of thousands of cyber hacks last year.
China's Defence Ministry Spokesman Geng Yansheng says almost two-thirds of the hacking attempts came from the United States.
A high-profile anti-corruption campaign by China's next generation of leaders, who take power next week, is being outshone by the country's online community.
President-in-waiting Xi Jinping has said that if untreated, rampant corruption could spell the end of the ruling Communist Party and the Chinese state.
But an army of microbloggers and online journalists are leading the graft fight by naming and shaming corrupt officials.
The country's state-run media, worried about falling behind hugely popular microblogs, has also embraced the online anti-corruption movement.
People.cn, the website of the state-run People's Daily, has been collecting citizens' complaints and suggestions, some of which their journalists plan to put to the country's leaders at the upcoming National People's Congress.

French President Emmanuel Macron heads into the summer break faced with falling popularity ratings after tough debates in parliament over labour reform and a public ethics law, a standoff with the military and cuts to housing assistance

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